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(c. 1530–90)

English politician. From 1573 to 1590 he served as Secretary of State to Queen Elizabeth I. He developed a domestic and foreign spy network that led to the detection of numerous Catholic plots against Elizabeth I and the gathering of intelligence about the Spanish Armada. In 1586 Walsingham uncovered a plot against Elizabeth involving Mary, Queen of Scots; he subsequently exerted his power to have Mary executed.